


A Mistake

by OfFansAndFlames



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Humor, M/M, Original Character(s), POV Uchiha Sasuke, SNS Summer Week 2017, SNSSummerWeek2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-15 23:06:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11241171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfFansAndFlames/pseuds/OfFansAndFlames
Summary: Everyone makes mistakes.Given his dark past and plethora of mistakes raising four children and nine grandchildren, this is something Sasuke knows all too well.SNS Summer Week 2017Day 1: Chapter 698 Canon Diversion





	A Mistake

“You’re a genius, Naruto,” Sasuke stated reluctantly.

The warm sunlight of late morning wafted into the house. It was a small but very well-designed and decorated home in the Uchiha district, with a garden bursting with cabbage, apples, and tomatoes in the back. They’d previously lived in a five bedroom, two-story home – plenty of room for the four children they’d adopted.

But once Sasuke’s arthritis set in and Naruto started to wind down, it had become too cumbersome to take care of such a large place. About ten years ago, Sasuke accrued a brutal injury out on the field; his leg was broken in three places. For the most part, it healed well, but every now and again the old injury would flare up. His arthritis just added to the problem. The stairs didn’t do any favors for Sasuke’s knees, which creaked like an old door with every upward step.

“Heh.  The majority of a century married to me, and you figure this out _now_?”

Their marriage, truly, was a natural extension of the bond the two shared since they were children. Since they connected on that level, they only had eyes for each other, and thank the stars above that they shared the same orientation.

After their wounds healed from their final fight, the two had been sent off for a mapping expedition. As even Kakashi admitted, it was merely an excuse to get rid of the two of them until tensions died down. Given the powers that Sasuke had accumulated, Naruto was the only one the village trusted to keep Sasuke in check – both physically and emotionally. Being the village hero came with a lot of trust.

They traveled to the edges of the map and beyond. Different systems of government, different cultures, different foods, different standards of living… They each kept their own journals, documenting everything they’d seen. Both of them changed, if only a little, with every new thing they learned.

And where there was war, the two would do everything in their power to resolve it. And it was in one of these war-torn regions, far from the outreaches of their maps, that they found Hanae – their first child. She was 3-years-old, malnourished, and had already been blinded in one eye. She had no one, and left on her own, she would likely die. Naruto thought that he’d have quite the task cut out for him, convincing Sasuke to take her with them. Naruto was wrong.

Late one night, as Hanae slept in their tent, Naruto and Sasuke sat by their campfire, eating and reminiscing. Naruto admitted his fears that somehow, despite all of this, he’d lose Sasuke again.

Sasuke’s response? A marriage proposal. From then on, it was history.

“It takes a special breed of talent to mess up a perfectly tidy house so quickly and horribly.  And I don’t like using the word ‘century’ to refer to my lifespan.”

Sasuke had woken up with the sun, dusting and scrubbing every relevant item meticulously. His hips and knees worsened every time he bent over, and he walked with a slight limp after all that exertion, one hand on his hip as he tried to minimize his limp as much as possible. Sasuke didn’t like showing any signs of weakness, emotional or physical.

Then Naruto had decided to make breakfast, if that abomination he slapped on the table could even be called that. Quite the mess had accompanied it. Sasuke felt like strangling him.

Naruto rolled his eyes.

“Please.  Not everyone is up to your anal standards of tidiness.  You once called our bathroom a pigsty because the toilet paper was rolled underhanded.”

Sasuke clucked his tongue.  That was a long time ago.

“There’s a reason people put it in an overhand position.  It’s instinctual.”

“It needs to be an overhand position,” Naruto imitated, adopting Sasuke’s bone straight posture and pursing his lips in mocked distaste and crossing his arms, “It’s instinctual.”

“Besides, you’re sidestepping.  You left more than half a cup of tea on the table, which is not only slobbish but also wasteful.  Both the refrigerator and the trash can lid were open.  And what the hell did you put on the stove, super glue and lard?”

“It was an experiment,” Naruto said sheepishly, averting his eyes from Sasuke and gazing out the window.

“Again?  Really?  We’re too old for this, Naruto.”

“Hey now, hey…” Naruto interrupted assertively.  “You’re only as old as you feel.”

“Tell that to my arthritis when I have to clean up after you,” Sasuke grumbled.

Naruto sighed.

“C’mon, Sasuke, stop being such a grumpy old man.”

“I’ll stop acting like a grumpy old man when you stop acting like an 84-year-old child.”

“Jeez, snippy snippy.”

Unfortunately, his issues with his knees and hips was one of the reasons he’d had to retire from the police force he’d founded. This endeavor, which had carried over from his early childhood, granted him so much peace that he finally felt justified in having his arm regenerated. Living his life with Naruto, adopting his children, and running the police force opened a new chapter of Sasuke’s life, and he no longer felt the need to punish himself for an old one.

Where Sasuke brought order to the Land of Fire, Naruto brought peace. Sasuke dealt with both civilian crime and corruption in the government, at any level. Naruto guided the people. Together, they’d created a nation greater than it ever had been.

Granted, Sasuke retired a good five years later than he probably should have and only did so when Hanae had stepped up to plate to fill her father’s footsteps. Sasuke put not an ounce of nepotism in his decision to grant her this honor, and never would he be so selfish as to pressure his children into a certain profession out of personal interest.

However, this didn’t stop him from having to hide his watering eyes at the commencement ceremony. Sasuke truly had been objective, calling her the only “suitable heir” – as always, his expectations were high. If Sasuke’s pride could have adopted a tangible form, it would have shined as brightly as the sun.

Yet Hanae was only one child out of their four. Of the three others, one became a doctor, another joined ANBU, and still another became a scientist in the cryptology lab.  While they were proud of every single one of them, Sasuke had a special place in his heart for Hanae, even moreso after she was appointed chief. She was a daddy’s girl, without question.

“Hanae’s going to be here in ten minutes, and you haven’t even started on the stove yet.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll start,” Naruto groaned as he stood up, bracing himself against the kitchen table.  “Besides, is it really the end of the world if the stove isn’t _completely_ , one hundred percent spotless?”

Sasuke merely stared at Naruto, blankly and sarcastically.

“Is that really the type of example you want to set for our children?  For our _grand_ children?”

Sasuke was probably right, as reluctant as Naruto was to admit it.  Admitting that Sasuke was right was bad enough under normal circumstances, but in this particular circumstance, it meant that Naruto was then obligated to do something about it.  Nonetheless, he took out a rag and scrubbed quickly.

“Perfe-“

“You missed a spot,” Sasuke interrupted, straightening the table cloth.

“For the love of…” Naruto growled, giving the stove a final once over and finally clearing it.

“Happy now?”

“Yes, quite.”

“Phew…” Naruto exhaled, walking up to Sasuke’s side and surveying the now clean kitchen victoriously.

Sasuke smiled softly as Naruto leaned into him, resting his head on Sasuke’s shoulder.  Unfortunately for Naruto, Sasuke had grown two inches taller than he had into adulthood.  To make matters worse, Naruto seemed to have lost a couple inches in the past decade.  That’s what he got for slouching, Sasuke said.

“You can run an entire country, yet you can barely clean a kitchen.”

“Don’t question genius, sweetcakes,” Naruto grinned, ruffling Sasuke’s salt and pepper (but still very thick) hair.  As he did so, the wrinkles around the corner of his lips and eyes showed prominently.  They were souvenirs from a lifetime of happiness, as Naruto would tell anyone who asked.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, gently resting his head on Naruto’s before Naruto turned to Sasuke, craning up devilishly.

“Hey, Sasuke…  We still have three minutes.”

Naruto grabbed his husband and placed a kiss on his cheek, right by his ear.

“What could we possibly do in three-”

There was the sound of a young boy and a young girl talking, the boy giggling as the girl began to sing.  Two tiny pairs of feet scampered up to their doorway, and there was then a syncopated knock at the door.  Hanae was early.

As excited as Naruto had been to enjoy their alone time, which they had no shortage of after their retirement anyway, he was enthralled to hear his daughter at the door.  He swung the door open without further ado, and Sasuke could have sworn he heard Naruto’s shoulder crack.

“Hanae!”

“Hey Dad!” Hanae answered with a smile, leaning forward and giving Naruto a brief hug.

“Finally, my long-lost daughter!  How’d you feel if you came back, and we’d all wasted away, huh?”

In reality, it had been only a month.  However, their household was typically very tight-knit, and it was rare that any of their children go longer than a couple weeks without seeing their fathers unless they were abroad.

“Yeah, sorry…” Hanae stated, scratching the back of her head as was so often her father’s habit.  “It’s been a busy time for the police force.”

The police force was going through a much needed restructure, as there was a high demand for it to expand into the arena of foreign threat investigation. The people loved the force, and the organization was highly respected. With this expansion came a variety of tasks, including new hires, movement of officers, and slew of more routine items, like training.

“Grandpa!” the little boy shouted, excitedly toddling over to Naruto and falling onto his shin.

Hanae and her husband were just about to travel to Suna for work-related business, so as usual, Naruto and Sasuke had volunteered to watch both of their children. Kyo, the little boy currently clinging to Naruto’s legs, was but five years old with short red hair.

“Oh, you know it’s fine,” Naruto answered, grinning. “I’m just happy to be seeing you and the little ones.”

Naruto bent over and ruffled Kyo’s hair. Meanwhile, Hanari, their 6-year-old granddaughter, beamed at Sasuke, hair down to her waist. It was no secret that she looked up to Sasuke. He was the “cool grandpa,” after all, much to Naruto’s chagrin.

“How are the selections coming along?” Sasuke asked casually.

“We’ve got a really great bunch this year, Pa.  At this rate, it shouldn’t take us longer than two weeks.”

“Well, you’ve always had a good eye for talent.  Have you decided yet whether you’re going to combine the west sector yet?”

“No, not yet,” Hanae answered, scratching the back of her head. “We’re aiming to make the decision by May.”

“Hn…” Sasuke replied, furrowing his brow “That’s cutting it pretty close.”

Out of Hanae’s sight, Naruto cast Sasuke a warning glance.

Sasuke retired from the force as late as he possibly could have. He ran a tight ship. It was constantly in a state of readiness, had the highest caliber of talent, and repeatedly outperformed even ANBU. Walking away and handing someone else the keys, his daughter or not, was one of the most difficult things he’d done in his adult life.

For a while, as Naruto later got Sasuke to admit, he was still trying to run the force – just through his daughter. It was causing a rift in their relationship, which was normally so healthy. Hanae felt as though Sasuke didn’t trust her, and she was exasperated by him. Naruto calmed the waters, explaining to Hanae what the force meant to Sasuke, and how it was, in a sense, the last remains of his family and clan.

With conscious effort on Sasuke’s part, he stepped back and entrusted the force to Hanae. Still, at certain times, he found himself slipping into old habits.

Hanae sighed.

“Trust me, I don’t like it any better. The committee’s been so busy with…”

“Sasuke!” Naruto shouted, laughing and elbowing Sasuke in the ribcage. “It’s always work with you! You’re retired, you bas-”

Naruto paused, noticing his two grandchildren looking on with wide eyes.

“You… Dummy!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, turning over to his daughter again.

“Hanae, I trust whatever you do, so I’m sure it will be fine.”

Hanae beamed back at the two of them. Sasuke’s compliments came rarely, so those who knew Sasuke well tended to cherish them. Sasuke looked down at his grandchildren’s faces, now noticing that Hanari had a split lip.

“What happened to Hanari’s lip?” Sasuke asked in a tone that could become dangerous.

“Oh…” Hanae sighed. “Some kids at school have been bullying her.”

“Aw, Hanari…” Naruto said, reaching down and petting her head. Meanwhile, there was a hint of fire in Sasuke’s eyes.

“You should beat them up, Hanari! I know you can do it!”

Another brilliant idea from Naruto. Though given the situation, that advice wouldn’t be half bad.

“No. Hanari, we and your mother and will take care of it,” Sasuke intercepted.

He shook his head, speaking to Hanae and Naruto, “They should be teaching these kids better than that. Kids these days have no respect.”

“Alright, Sasuke,” Naruto sighed, knowing that this had hit on one of Sasuke’s pet peeves

“I don’t know how they expect to run this country when half the time they’re…”

“Honey, go take your prune juice,” Naruto interrupted. “You get cranky when you’re constipated.”

“Says the man who spent thirty minutes in the bathroom yesterday,” Sasuke rebutted almost instantaneously. “I’m perfectly regular, and you know it.”

Hanae would’ve been taken aback by this, but growing up with those two, it took one hell of a lot to rattle her.

“Dad, take Pa more seriously,” Hanae said, pointing to Naruto. “Pa, stop ranting.”

Naruto took a step back, widening his eyes.

“Look at her!” he said, facing Sasuke and pointing to their daughter. He looked over at Hanae again. “ _We’re_ the parents! You’re not allowed to tell us that!”

“Seriously, Dad…” Hanae shook her head as she held her face, chuckling just slightly.

“Seriously nothing!  I wiped your butt!  Sasuke once had to use two different jutsu just to get a crayon out of your nose.  You don’t get to talk like that to me!”

Sasuke laughed, and it was warm.

“He’s got you on that one, Hanae.”

She rolled her eyes at the two of them.

“Whatever. Anyhow, I’ll be back in a week, okay? Have fun with Pa and Granddad!”

Their plethora of grandchildren had named Naruto Granddad. Sasuke was Pa.

“By the way,” Sasuke added. “If you need any help with the bullying situation, please let us know. We’d be more than ready.”

Hanae knew her father well enough to read into that. It made her laugh.

“Don’t worry. The school’s taking care of it.”

Hanae bent down, giving each child a long hug.

“Bye Mom!” Kyo said, jumping up and down.

“Have fun, Mom!”

Naruto took his turn hugging Hanae, and Sasuke patted her back. With a wave, Hanae left their house and was on her way.

“Woohoo!” Naruto shouted as soon as the door shut, jumping up in the air. “It’s party time! What should we do?”

“I’m hungry,” Kyo chimed in.

“Hi, Hungry. I’m Granddad!”

Sasuke groaned inwardly. With every new generation came a new wave of horrible jokes from Naruto. He was clearly running low on material, dishing out a joke like that. Kyo laughed. Perhaps he hadn’t heard that one; he was only five.

“What do you want to eat? We can have ice cream! Donuts! Dango!”

“Naruto,” Sasuke cut in with an expression that was drenched with, “We’ve talked about this.”

“But you have to eat lunch before you have dessert,” Sasuke amended.

Both of the kids seemed to think that was quite fair, given the looks on their faces.

Through power of will, Naruto convinced Sasuke to have them all eat ramen for their lunch. The catch was that it needed to have vegetables in it. Sasuke had Naruto prepare the meal while he entertained Kyo and Hanari. He appreciated getting off of his feet. Sasuke hadn’t wanted to admit that his hips and knees were flaring up, to the point where walking even slowly without a limp was difficult. It was a matter of pride.

Besides, Naruto had slowly developed the capability to make some of the best ramen Konoha had seen. Even Sasuke couldn’t resist it when Naruto made it. At last, all four were served, the steaming plates resting in front of them.

“Itadakimasu,” they said under their breath.

Kyo separated his chopsticks, digging down into his ramen and finding a piece of broccoli.

“Vegtals!” Kyo said, grinning. “I love vegtals!”

“Good for you, Kyo,” Sasuke replied. “That’s very smart of you. You’ll become big and strong.”

“I like vegetables too!” Hanari immediately interrupted. “He’s not so smart. He can’t even say ‘vegetables!’”

“You’re smart too, Hanari,” Sasuke said, his voice serious. “But don’t speak poorly of your brother.”

Hanari pouted, looking down at her bowl.

“Blah, blah, blah!” Naruto spoke over them. “You all talk too much. Your food will get cold!”

Kyo giggled at Naruto, yet again.

They’d finished in not too long. As was Sasuke’s practice, he took a lemon, sliced it, and ate one of the pieces. It was great as a palate cleanser, though everyone seemed to think he was crazy for it.

“Pa, why are you eating just a plain old lemon?” Kyo asked, looking over at Sasuke.

“Because I like plain old lemons.”

“Oh!” Hanari pitched in, raising her hand in the air. “I want to try one!”

Hanari was always trying to prove herself to Sasuke; she looked up to him for his intelligence and grace, maybe even idolized him. Yet Kyo usually favored Naruto, the “funner” one as he’d put it.

“Have fun,” Sasuke said with a sly smile, offering Hanari a slice of lemon.

Enthusiastically, she took a bite, only for her entire face to pucker up. She was struggling to keep her eyes open, chewing the lemon slice and attempting to swallow it. One gulp down. Her eyes were watering.

Naruto and Sasuke both laughed, and the sound was warm, filling their kitchen.

“You don’t have to finish it, Hanari,” Sasuke said.

“But… I like it!”

Sasuke bit his tongue, smiling. Naruto couldn’t help but laugh again.

“Why does Pa like something so sour?” Kyo asked.

“’Cuz he’s a sourpuss!” Naruto explained.

“No, ‘cuz he’s tough!” Hanari corrected.

“I wanna try too!” Kyo shouted.

“Okay,” Sasuke said, handing Kyo a lemon slice. “Just don’t take a big bite.”

Kyo nipped at the edge. He swallowed, then took an aggressive bite, grinning as he chewed the pulp.

“Yum!”

Neither Naruto nor Sasuke could hide their surprise. Just as Naruto was about to say something, his cell phone rang. It was Konohamaru. There was no missing a call from him; he’d taken Naruto’s place as hokage.

“Yeah, Konohamaru?”

A pause.

“Aw, man! Yeah…. Yeah, okay.”

Naruto let out a theatrical sigh.

“Yeah… I’ll be there. Bye.”

Naruto’s face was glum when he hung up.

“Is everything okay?” Sasuke asked, clearly on edge.

“Yes, yes, it’s fine. We just have some diplomats from the Land of Storm in town, and the negotiations are getting heated. Konohamaru thinks it’d be helpful if I made appearance to calm the waters. Guys… I’ve gotta leave for just a couple hours, okay? I’ll be right back, I promise!”

Naruto and those particular diplomats had a long history, but the countries shared a lot of bad blood. There was no backing out of this.

“Awww,” Kyo muttered under his breath, trying not to make his disappointment too obvious.

“I know, I know… Sasuke, you’ll be fine to hold the fort down when I’m gone, right?”

Sasuke hesitated for a moment. This was one of the days where every joint seemed to hurt. He couldn’t even walk at a decent pace. Every couple months, he’d have a flare-up like this, but of course it had to be in a situation like this.

But as long as nothing crazy happened, Sasuke reasoned, it should be fine. Hanari and Kyo were so well behaved, and Naruto would only be gone for a matter of hours.

“Yeah, do what you need to do.”

“Okay! Later, guys!” Naruto said as he walked towards the door, making peace signs at his grandkids before shutting it behind him.

Sasuke tried to ignore the small flicker of trepidation he felt as the door shut, leaving only him and his two grandchildren.

“Hmmm… Now what?” Kyo asked, confused.

Now isn’t that the question, Kyo...

“Want to watch some TV?”

“Yeah!”

Both of them were settled on this. Thank the powers that be.

“Alright, come along.”

They made their way into the family room, Hanari taking the remote and pointing it to the TV. It didn’t turn on. Sasuke slowly walked up to the TV and pressed the button directly. Nothing.

Their TV had been in its final death throes for the last month. Why did it have to die _now?_ Sometimes it would work if he tinkered with the power supply. Not all was lost.

“I’m going to try to fix it. Stay there for a second.”

He needed to find his screwdriver. Out of the children’s sight, he finally let himself limp, making his way to the most distant room in the house. It was missing. Given how meticulous Sasuke was about putting things back where they belong, it must have been Naruto who misplaced it. Sasuke scoffed, making it to the next room over. Just as he laid his eyes on the screwdriver, he heard the sound of shattering glass from the kitchen.

_No!_

As quickly as he could, Sasuke moved toward the kitchen. If Naruto could have witnessed his frantic hobbling, he would have lost it. The kitchen now came into view, their old large clock on the floors with glass strewn everywhere. Hanari cast Sasuke the guiltiest look.

“I’m sorry, Pa!” she said, her voice trembling as she fought tears. “I’ll try to fix it!”

She bent over, hand outreached to the shards of glass.

“Don’t touch it!” Sasuke shouted, feeling his knees creak as he tried to sprint.

Hanari’s expression was seized by shock just as Sasuke neared her, only an arm’s length away. She dropped the glass to the ground, hiding her hand.

“Let me see,” Sasuke said.

Hanari abashedly showed Sasuke her hand. A small cut grazed over her second and third fingers, tiny drips of blood falling down.

It made Sasuke’s gut go cold.

“Hanari...” Sasuke said. “You’re bleeding.”

Finally, Hanari gave up to the tears, sobbing in their kitchen. Sasuke stepped through the glass, disregarding his own feet. He picked her up and moved her to the living room, setting her down on the couch.

He couldn’t believe he’d been so irresponsible. How could this have happened on his watch? He tenderly took Hanari’s hand again. A small splinter of glass had made its way under her skin.

“I need to take this out. Close your eyes; it will just be a second.”

Hanari looked frightened. Sasuke was sure that her desire to impress him was coming to his aid now. In but a second, Sasuke removed the glass. Hanari hadn’t even flinched.

“That’s my girl,” Sasuke said, smiling at her.

Bashfully, Hanari smiled back. The look on her face wasn’t enough to quell that massive guilt gnawing at his gut, however.

“Hanari, don’t touch broken glass,” Sasuke said authoritatively. “That’s very important for you to remember.”

“I’m sorry!  I just wanted to clean it up for you!”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll just clean it up later.”

Hanari sniffed, and Sasuke offered her a tissue. Kyo was too stunned to say much.

“Okay. You’re…mad at me, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not mad.”

He was angry, actually, but only with himself.

“But you were yelling at me…” she mumbled, her lower lip forming a pout.

After all this time, Sasuke would have thought he’d be immune to these adorable expressions on his children. No such luck.

“I just wanted to make sure I stopped you before you hurt yourself, dear. That’s all.”

Hanari blew her nose, sniffling again.

“But I broke your clock…”

“It was just an accident. Everybody makes mistakes.”

“But wasn’t it expensive?” Hanari asked with her brows knit. What good was it if both of them felt guilty?

“Hanari…” Sasuke said, a hint of playfulness making its way into his voice. “Have you ever met a person who never made a mistake?”

Hanari was silent, searching for words.

“Because if you have, I want you to introduce me so that I can learn their secrets.”

Hanari still said nothing. It was obvious that the gears in her head were turning.

“Does that mean…that you’ve made a mistake before, Pa? Even you?”

Her wide and innocent eyes looked over to him, and if only for the irony of it, Sasuke laughed. Hanari didn’t know the dark parts of her grandfathers’ history. It felt almost like another life to Sasuke, but for her to say that to him, of all people…

And of course, it had to be their oldest clock that had fallen. Time could change everything.

Sasuke was her hero. He wondered how learning the truth would make her feel, but given the way their children had reacted, Sasuke wasn’t concerned.

“Trust me, Hanari,” Sasuke said. “I’ve made plenty.”


End file.
